Switch-board for telephone systems



(No Model.)

J. JEPSON.

SWITCH BOARD POR TELEPHONIE SYSTEMS.

Patented Sept. 26, 1882.

N, PETERS, Phew-Luhqgmphar, wnslnngzen. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH JEPSON, 0F VESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SWITCH-BOA RD FOR TELEPHONE SYSTEMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 265,092, datedSeptember 26, 1882.

Application filed February 3, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH JErsoN, of Westeld', in the county ot'Hampden and State otl Massachusetts, have invented a new and usef'ulImprovement in Switch-Boards for Telephone Systems, of which thefollowing isa description and specification.

The object of my invention is to enable the operator at the exchange orcentral otlice of a telephone system to connect any two circuits of thesystem by a single plug connection or medium, and to similarly connectany two sections of theV switch-board, and also to include au otticetransmitter and telephone in the circuit when any two line-circuits areconnected; and I accomplish this by the means substantially ashereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure I is a front view of a portion of a switch-board madeaccording to myinvention, and also showing the method of connecting theconnecting-wires with the connecting-plates. Fig. II is a plan view ot'aportion ofthe switchboard, and showing the method of making thepermanent connection between the circuitstrips and the comiecting-wires.Fig. Lil is a vertical transverse section at line Il ot' Fig. l ot' aswitch-board made according to myinvention, and showing a generator,telephone, and transmitter connected therewith; and Fig. IVis ahorizontal longitudinal section ota portion of the board at line L ofFig. Il.

In the drawings, B represents the horizontal or inclined portion ottheswitch-board, to which are secured the circuit-strips, as a a2 a3 a,which are arranged across the board parallel with each other and to anydesired number, and between each two adjacent strips, and'equidistantfrom each, is arranged a series of plates, as f, which are placed in aline and parallel with said circuit-strips. These plates may be securedto the board by being made in the form of bolts extending through theboard, with nuts turned on the lower threaded ends,lor in any otherconvenient way, so as to remaip permanently in place; andthe edges ofeach plate, asf, adjacent to the strip, as a', may have a recess madetherein, with a corresponding recess made iu the edge of the strip lopposite each platcj", so that a plug of Acylindrical or otherconvenient form may be inserted between any one plate, as f, and thestrip on either side of it, to make electrical connection between saidplate and circuitstrip. One row or series ot' these plates, asf, on theboard may be numbered as desiredsay from one to twelve in regularorder-and the adjacent row or series be numbered-say from thirteen totwenty-four, inclusive, in regular orderwith a circuit-strip, as a',between these two series ot' plates; and thisarrangement ota series ofplates, asf, and a circuitstrip, as c', alternately placed withreference to each other, is followed along theboard to being numbered ordesignated in any convenient way, as above described.

A series of connecting-wires, as c, is secured to the plates, asf, or tothe lower ends of the studs or bolts upon which the plates are made orsecured, these wires being equal in number to the number ot' plates fandstrips, as a', used. For example, it'twenty-four plates arc used, and ofcourse twenty-tour circuits in the system, thentwenty-fourconnecting-wires, as c', will be required, and these wires,as c', arc connected with the plates, as j', or with the studs or boltsto which the plates are at,- tached,in the following manner: The tirstwire c' is permanently secured to every bolt, or its plate f, in all theseries, which is markel 1, and this, as will readily be seen byreference to Fig. I, is every alternate plate at the upper end oftheseries ot' the horizontal portion B of the board, and the second or nextwire c is secured to every plate marked 13 in all the series of platesj", which, as will bc seen by reference to Fig. I, are the otheralternate plates at the upper end of the series of the same portion ofthe board. rlhe third connecting-wire c' is secured to every plate (orto its bolt) marked 2 in all the series of platesf, and the fourthconnecting-wire t is secured to each plate marked 14 in all the series,and so on until all the wires c and plates, as j', are connected in themanner above described, the connection between the plates, as f, and thetric connection. These connecting-wires, as c',

any desired extent, each two series of plates said connecting-wiresbeing a metallic or elec- IOO Vwith the same wire.

merely extend the length of the switchboard, and all the plates,as f, onthe switch-board which bear the same designating mark or number areelectrically connected with a certain particular wire c', each platehaving the same designating mark or number, being connected In additionto this, each circuit-strip, as a', a2, &c.,is also permanentlyelectrically connected with some one ot' said connecting-wires, althoughno two circuit-stri ps are permanently connected to the same wire. Forexample, the tirst circuit-strip, as a', is permanently connected withthe first wire c in the series of said wires at t', lthe second strip,as a2, is permanently connected with the third wire c in the series, thethird strip, as a3, is permanently connected with the iit'th wire c inthe series, and so on until thel successive circuit-strips have beenconnected with the alternate wires c in the whole series; and the nextcircuit-strip is then connected permanen t ly with the second wire cinthe series, the next strip is connected with the fourth wire in theseries, and so on until all the circuit-strips and all theconnecting-wires c in the series are permanently electricallyconnected-' one strip to one wire-as at the points marked t'.

The vertical portion, as C', ot' the switchboard is provided with asimilar arrangement of' strips, as a', and plates, asf, but the platesare preferably arranged in horizontal series of, say, two rows in eachseries, as shown at B C D E, and the connecting-wires c are connectedwith the platesfin the same manner'and according to the same arrangementas inv the horizontal portion of the board 5 but instead 'of beinglimited in length to the length of this section of the board they extendto and along the length o t' that vertical section of the boardindicated by the letter at the lel't on the vertical'portion C. (Shownin Fig. I.) Suppose,for example, that there are five sections of theswitch-board in use in the office, each indicated by theletters A B C DE. The wires, as c', in the group marked B extend along the length ofthek vertical section A, and thence to and along the length ofthevertical section B.

The wires c in the group marked C vextend alongthe section A, thencepastjsection B and along the length of section C, ai'id so on; but theyare not electrically connected with the strips, as a', on the uprightportion nof the board, as theother wires c are 011 the horizontalportion.

Thecircuit-strips, as a a?, on the horizontal portion of the board areconnected electrically with the vertical strips, as a', on the verticalportion of the board, and also each with its line or circuit wire andits annunciator, as follows: The strip, as a', on the horizontal portionof the board is connected with the strip, as a', directly above it onthe vertical portion of the board, and also with the first annunciator,andthe rst line or circuit' wire comes in through or is connecteddirectly with this annunciator, and each circuitstri'p on the horizontalportion of the board is connected with the strip directly above it onthe vertical portion of the board, and with the annunciator between, asby a wire, as 3l; but the strips, as a', on the vertical portion of theboard are not connected with the line or circuit wires, except throughthe annnnciator, as shown in Fig. III. rlThe arrangement of strips,plates, and connecting-wires on the upright portion C of the switch-board is used for the purpose of connecting the different sections ofswitchboard in the same otce.

A jack, as n, is secured to the board-one jack for eachcircuit-strip-with a groundplate or iiipper, as '0, secured to the boardon one side of the jack, `and a spring call-key, as s, secured on theother side, with a telephone-strip, as t, secured'to and lextendingalong the board above the call-keys, so that said keys are held up intocontact with the telephone strip. Each jackis electrically connectedwith its respective circuit-strip, as by a wire, and all theground-plates or flippers, as t, are electrically connected together andwith the ground, as by a wire, 36.

A generator, as 25, may be located in any convenient place, and isconnected with the contact-point, as 34, beneath each call-key, as.

by a wire, 26, and is also' connected with the ground, as 'shown inFigs. II and III, and the telephone-strip, as t, is also Aconnected witha transmitter and telephone located in any convenient place near theswitch-board in the oflice, with the ground-connection from saidtelephone, all as clearly shown in Fig. lII.

When this board is in practical use the circuit-strips are numbered oneach horizontal IOO board, as l 2 3, &c., in regular order, commenc-'nected with the corresponding circuit ot' the system; but the platesare located one half on one side of a circuit-strip and the other halton the other side, as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in thedrawings.

Suppose, in using a board constructed' as abovevdescribed, with thejacks in connection with the ground-plates,ias t, as shown in Figs.-

II and III, that the annunciator should indicate a call from circuit 1in the system. The f operator at the central ofce moves the jack, as n,at the'circuit-strip a! on the horizontal portion of the board over andin connection -with the corresponding call-key, as s, opposite saidcircuit-strip, which makes electric connection with the telephone-stripand telephone, as 30, throughwhich the operator receives the call.Suppose the station calling from circuit 1 desires to be connected witha station on circuit 4. This jack opposite the circuit-strip 1 is thenmoved away from the call-key s into a vertical position, and the jack,as n, opposite the circuit-strip a4, is moved over against the call-key,as s, and the operator calls up the station on circuit t with which theparty on circuit l desires to communicate, and a metal plug is insertedeither between the circuitstrip d and the platef(marked 4) or betweenthe circuit-strip a4 and the plate marked 1. It makes no difference inwhich of these places the plug1 is inserted, as the electric connectionis made between the two circuits l and 4 by only one plug-insertion or asingle connection. Suppose the station on circuit l desires to beconnected with a station on circuit 60, which comes in on section D ofth'e switch-board. The operator at section A of the board, where circuitl comes in, merely inserts the metal plug between circuit-strip a,connected with the annunciator at circuit 1, and the plate marked l) onthe vertical portion of the board, and the operator at section D insertsthe plug between the strip corresponding to and connected with circuitand the plate marked A on the vertical portion ot' his section of theboard, and the connection between the two circuits is made.

As the number marked on the surface of each plate, as f, in theseriesisfor the purpose ot' designating the circuits and theirrespective circuit-strips, I denominate these plates thedesignating-plates. 1t will be seen by the above description that allthe designatingplates, as f, on the horizontal portion of the boardwhich bear the same designating number or mark are permanentlyelectrically connected by one of the connecting-wires c in the serieswith the circuit and circuit-strip designated by the mark or number onsaid plates,

so that all that is required to make electric connection between any twocircuits and circuit-strips on the saine section of the board is for theoperator toinsertasingle plugin either one ol'l two places.

It is evident that any other convenientform of jack may be used thanthat herein shown, and it is also evident that instead of using` a plugto make the desired connection between any designating-plate and acircuit-strip a jack may be used instead. designating -plate, as f, mayhave pivoted thereto an ordinary jack, as n, (shown in the drawings,)and adapted to be moved over to either side into contact with eithercircuitstrip; but when standing upright it would not be in electricconnection with anything eX cept its own series ot' designating-platesand their connecting-wire beneath; or the jack might be pivoted to theupper surface of the circuit-strips between two adjacentdesignating-plates, as j', and the desired connection made by moving thejack over to either side, and thus making connection between the desiredcircuit-strip and designating-plate.

The circuit-strips may be Secured to the surface ot the board, itaconnecting-plug is to be used for making connections, with smallholesin the board at the proper places to allow the plug to enter between thestrips and plates; or they may be secured in any other desired manner bybeing' raised from the board and the plates also; but I prefer that bothstrips and plates should all be secured so that their upper surfaces maybe upon the same plane, for the sake of appearance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- Thecombination, in an improved switchboard, of a series ot' circuit-strips,each connected with one of the circuits ot' the system, a series ot'connecting-wires, each connected with one of the circuit-strips., and aseries of plates or disks arranged at right angles to the length ot'said strips, said disks andstrips alternating with each other, and eachalternate disk in a direction at rightangles to thelength of the stripsbeing connected to the saine connecting-wire, whereby any two circuitsin the system may be electrically connected by a st antiall y asdescribed.

JOSEPH J EPSON.

Xdfitiiesses:

T. A. CURTIS, Cults. H. Woon.

For example, each 5o single plug at either one of two places, sub- 9o

